Music

Cara has been performing for most of her life.  Her first foray into recording was a 3 song cassette of original material while she was in Calgary, an 18th birthday present from her folks.  It was recorded on 2 inch tape… alas something happened to the tape machine… the short version is she started to sound a bit like a chipmunk.  But it was fun nonetheless and a good introduction into the recording world.  Her second cassette, Train to Freedom, was recorded in 1996 in BC (where Cara called home for four years).  Initially made just for friends and family, it quickly started to make its way into the hands of fans and promoters, and Cara found herself selling out of copies at shows.  She decided to make a “proper” EP, 1997’s Tragedy of the Commons.

Cara had entered a talent contest and won studio time as the first prize winner.  Tragedy of the Commons was the calling card she used to earn a spot on the Lilith Fair tour in 1998 (Calgary show), and it was the CD that brought her over to the UK for the first time, to perform as part of the Wirral International Guitar Festival.  By 2000, she knew it was time to record a full-length album, and found her way to Winnipeg’s very indie (and very cool) Private Ear studio.

Tempting the Storm was released in late 2000 on her own label in Canada (Blue Case Tunes) and over in the UK on Headroom Records.  In late 2001, she co-founded the folk trio The Wailin’ Jennys, and 2 recordings resuted: the first was an EP released in 2002 (simply titled The Wailin’ Jennys), the second was the Juno-award winning album 40 days (released in 2004).  In 2007 Cara released her acclaimed second full-length recording, The Light Fantastic, on the Black Hen label in Canada and on CRS (formerly Rounder Records Europe) over in the EU.

In 2010 she recorded an EP for CRS called One Take Only where she sat in front of the mic and played one take of some of her favourite songs.  It’s raw and real and showcases Cara’s great acoustic guitar approach.  Later in 2010 and during 2011 she undertook the producer duties and created the exquisite new album Darlingford, her most intimately personal and fully realized recording to date.  The album was recorded in remote locations across Canada and the UK and features an all-star cast of guest musicians.  It was officially released in Canada in late June 2012 (Blue Case Tunes/Fontana North) and is being released in Europe with CRS.